Hurry up and slow down!

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m always in a hurry. I’m always rushing to the next thing. I hurry to get the kids to the bus stop. I’m usually hurrying to get into the office (#shocker). Often I eat lunch in a hurry. Why? Because there is something else I need or want to do. I hurry home from work to get dinner going. Then I usually move from there on to a ball practice. Yet, to be clear, this perpetual hurried lifestyle is not confined to just the times revolving around our kids’ school and sports schedules. Even during our “slower” times, I find that we’re usually in a hurry – on our way to the post office, to the grocery store, to get gas in the van before bed so that we don’t have to the next morning, etc. The list seems endless, and here’s my point: Why am I always in a hurry? Why are we always rushing around so much? What’s the use in this kind of pace?

Now, if one is taking an exam of some sort and moves through it too quickly, what happens? Well, it has been my experience that I often miss certain things that I shouldn’t. I misread the question; I overlook the best option. I think we may be missing some things in life that a better pace would safeguard us against, but more on that later. Additionally, it seems that being in a hurry can be detrimental in other ways as well. I’ll share a couple of personal examples and then the irony I’ve observed in each.

#getwhatyoupayfor

The first comes from a couple years back. I had just finished cutting my hair and was scanning my cabeza in the mirror to see if I had missed anything. Sure enough, I noticed a patch of hair that had some how avoided my clippers. The strand was sticking out as if to mock my efforts. Being in a hurry to finish the job and move on to the next thing, I grabbed my clippers and went to town. Unfortunately, what I failed to realize in my rush is that I had removed the 3-guard. Instead of simply trimming the straggling hairs, I unfashionably buzzed a random bald spot on the back left part of my melon (#attractive).

Most fellas only need a few opportunities to learn a hard lesson, but I’m especially stubborn. So, a few months later we were on vacation in St. Louis and were kind of on the bubble about whether we should do a late dinner or just snack around the hotel. At the last minute we decided to order pizza just before the local pizzeria closed. We called-in the order and I quickly left to pick it up. Up to this point in the story, everything was just fine. But then as I was backing in to park, I hit the button that automatically rolls the driver’s window down. My plan was to stick my head out to make sure I was within the parking stripes and not too close to the next vehicle. However, in my haste, I moved to take a look just a tad too soon and chipped-off the bottom of one of my front teeth by scraping it on the top of the downward moving window (#ridiculous).

Ironically, in my hurry to get my grub on, I not only lost part of a tooth but most of my appetite. And when I consider the root cause beneath so much of my hastiness, there is no good reason for it. I’m either trying to get to the next thing, thus missing the blessing of being content in the moment. Or I’m trying to cram so much more into my day, and that usually traces back to pride. Why else would I have all these expectations upon myself? Either I think I can do it all (pride) or I’m trying to earn approval. If my efforts are to please people, it is futile and I will never be satisfied. And if I’m striving to please God, that’s an indication that I’ve forgotten the gospel. For those who are in Christ, God’s adopted son’s and daughters, the Father is well pleased – not on account of our efforts but because of the finished work of His only begotten Son on the cross. But here’s another cool (and by cool I mean sad) thing I’ve realized about myself: sometimes I act as if I’m the only one that can do something. Is God not sovereign? How quickly I forget His words to Job (Job 38:4-41)!

Concerning my haircut fiasco, instead of looking good (my goal), I looked like a goof (not the plan)! And doesn’t that illustrate the craziest part?! While my hurrying made me look silly, I’m so often in a hurry because I’m trying to look good, and I don’t think I’m alone on this. We want to be seen as folks that can accomplish much. We want to be thought of as productive and well-rounded. If we have a reputation for doing a lot of things, perhaps we can get away with never really doing any of them well. And if this is indeed, us, we might need to pause and count the cost. Before we hurry off into the routine of another week, for contemplation’s sake, let’s consider the why behind this maddening pace? What are we really accomplishing? What are we possibly missing? What might be influencing this haste? Is it really worth it? And perhaps most of all, is this a significant value we wish to impress upon our children?

Always being in a hurry comes at a cost. It has damaged some things for me. Yet honestly, hair can grow back and a tooth can be repaired. But what about our children? Their childhood is only to be lived once. Sure, one of these days we’ll be happy to get them out from beneath our roof, but do we want them to scurry about life like this? Is this what my wife and I want to pass along? What about our marriage? Do we want to look back on the years that passed by like a blur? Praise God that His grace is sufficient and He can restore the years that were thrown away – the ones that were “stolen” by our own foolishness. But what if His grace in this moment allows us to peer ahead into a somber future filled with shoulda’s and coulda’s? What if He is grabbing our attention now? What if He is gently pleading for us to evaluate our “hurry” and our “worry” and our “busy”? In light of life’s brevity and the unrealistic nature of our pace, perhaps it’s time for us to hurry up and slow down.

Matt Fowler
NBC Family Pastor of HS
@fattmowler